Complaint
The programme included a phone-in about what the Government might do to help people manage the cost of living. In an exchange with a caller who proposed increasing the income tax personal allowance, Jeremy Vine suggested an increase would benefit people like Richard Branson and Mick Jagger. A listener complained that this was misleading. The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the BBC’s editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
The income tax personal allowance is reduced by £1 for every £2 of annual income over £100,000 and reaches zero at £125,140. So, although it would be valid to argue that an increase in the allowance would benefit some people with incomes substantially above the average, it was not accurate to suggest that people as wealthy as Richard Branson or Mick Jagger would gain from it. In the ECU’s judgement the inaccuracy was a material one in the context of a discussion about the effects of raising the personal allowance.
Upheld
Further action
The finding was reported to the management of BBC Radio and discussed with the editorial team concerned.